United in grief, and seething with anger

Lucknow/Bengaluru, Feb 15 

A day after the Pulwama attack, there was grief and anger in villages across the country that send young men to the security forces. 

Among those killed in the terror attack were 12 CRPF troopers from Uttar Pradesh and at least four from Punjab.

OP Tripathi from Hapur, Uttar Pradesh, who lost his son Pankaj Tripathi, said: “I am proud that my son sacrificed his life for the motherland, but the government should take steps against the attackers. The time for talking is up, we want retribution.” 

Tempers also ran high in Deoria’s Jaidev Chapia, the native village of Vijay Kumar Maurya, who left for Jammu on February 9 after spending time with family. His father demanded a befitting reply. At jawan Bablu Santra’s village in West Bengal, his grieving wife and mother also talked of revenge.

Residents of MP’s Khudawal village in Jabalpur district recalled Ashwini Kachhhi’s winsome smile. “He would encourage the youth to join the forces,” his neighbour said. 

Jaimal Singh’s village in Moga is yet to come to terms with his death. “He spoke to his wife and five-year-old son over the phone on Tuesday,” his father Jaswant Singh said. 

H Guru from Gudigere village in Karnataka’s Mandya district too had called home just hours before the attack. So had Manoj Kumar Behera of Ratanpur village in Odisha’s Cuttack district. His wife said he had  promised to call her up after he reached Srinagar. — TNS/PTI

Centre to brief all parties today

New Delhi: An all-party meeting will be held on Saturday to brief political parties on the Pulwama terror attack, officials said. At the meeting, convened by Home Minister Rajnath Singh, all major political parties will also be informed about steps being taken by the government so far, a Home Ministry official said. PTI

Nation in mourning, decries terror

BJP cancels all political events of PM, Amit Shah 

The BJP on Friday cancelled all political programmes of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party chief Amit Shah. “Political programmes may have been cancelled, but developmental activities will not be stopped because of terror attacks. The agenda of India’s enemies is to create obstructions in the path of development, but we will not allow them to succeed,” BJP spokesman Sambit Patra said.

Azmi, Akhtar won’t attend Kaifi function in Karachi      

Veteran actor Shabana Azmi said on Friday she and her husband lyricist-writer Javed Akhta had decided not to attend Kaifi Azmi's birth centenary celebrations in Karachi in the wake of the Pulwama attack. The couple was invited to Pakistan by the Karachi Arts Council for a two-day event. "@Javedakhtarjadu  and I were invited for a 2 day event celebrating Kaifi's Centenary and were truly looking forward to it. I appreciate that our hosts the Karachi Arts Council mutually agreed to cancel the event at the nth hour in the wake of Pulwama attack," Azmi posted on Twitter. 

Sharad Pawar calls for unity, takes dig at Modi         

Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar on Friday said the Pulwama terror attack was an attack on the nation and there should be no attempts to politicise the issue. The former Union minister also took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over some of the latter's statements after such attacks during the Congress-led UPA regime. "He (Modi) used to say the Manmohan Singh government did not have ability to teach a lesson (to Pakistan). He also used to remark that only those with a 56-inch chest could administer a tough lesson to Pakistan," Pawar said.

Don’t allow Pak devotees: Ajmer Sharif chief to govt

Condemning the terror attackin Pulwama, Ajmer Sharif Dargah dewan Syed Zainul Abedin Ali Khan on Friday urged the government to not allow devotees from Pakistan to visit the shrine.

Ali Khan, the descendant of Sufi saint Hazrat Khwaja Moinuddin Hassan Chishti, paid tribute to the personnel killed in the attack. He urged the government to not allow 'jatha' or group of devotees from Pakistan to visit the famous shrine in Rajasthan's Ajmer during festivals, including Urs.